It's not played on paper but, at face value, with Finch at 7 and Stobo at 8, we do at least have a proper line up for the first time in a number of games
And so it starts. Muyeye gone - strangled down the legside although he certainly didn't think he was out and looking at the footage again, it may have come off his thigh pad!
So the Hants tail put on nearly 200 runs today, and we have lost four of the top batsmen for less than 30. I claim no insight into predicting Hants had more than enough for an Innings win, but this is just derogatory. I have no idea where the problem in recruitment lies but the days when Kent have produced a pathetic performance on the pitch are actually a highlight compared to the sheer gutless surrenders we are offereing every match now. They need a serious kick up the ass (the players) but the real problem has to be the people who recruited this wretched squad and thought it would be okay.
The bowling attack looks like an attack made of players cobbled together, but the batting should have done much better than it has this season. A failure of coaching and confidence.
The league table does not lie - We are the worst team by a country mile. I think we would have struggled in the second division this year too. For someone like me who remembers the glory days of the Knott and Underwood era, this is all incredibly sad to see.
The bowling attack looks like an attack made of players cobbled together, but the batting should have done much better than it has this season. A failure of coaching and confidence.
I agree about the bowling - we are not bowling sides out because our attack is so weak, some of which is down to the number that have been hit by injuries. Gone are the days when we had the likes of Henry (75), Stevens (42) and Podmore (43) picking up 160 wickets between them as they did in 2018 - our top three wicket takers have 65 to date! We can't afford a Matt Henry because the price of the his ilk has gone up so much with the influence and exposure of T20.
The batting line up isn't very good and never has been when compared to the other sides in Div 1. Most of them, as I've said before, have inherent technical issues that have always been found out when the ball is moving about. Those issues are so ingrained that, at their stage of life, they are very difficult to eradicate by a coach. Their performances this season have very much been in keeping with their historic performances. It is the bowling, in years gone by and that ability to bowl sides out cheaply that has masked our inability to consistently score runs. Of course, losing the likes of Cox and Robinson hasn't helped either.
Career average/season averages (number of innings this year):
The batting coach changes every season with no improvement whatsoever. In fact batting points are rare in the county of Kent!
See above. Poor technique, when it is so ingrained, is virtually impossible to change especially if the player has been brought up on see ball/hit ball. Take Crawley as an example. That career average of 32.56 hasn't been improved upon at any time in his career and yet he has had access to some of the best international batting coaches and facilities in the world. If the ball isn't moving he will crucify the opposition but if it's seaming to any extent then everything tends to break down.
Batting coaches can help with subtle changes (and I'm not sure if ours is employed on a full time basis anyway) but are more useful for youngsters coming through the system. But if we do not encourage batters to put a value on their wicket (as per the second innings in this week's Test) then everything goes out of the window even for the best technicians such as Root and Brook.
It only took the ECB five months to make a decision but all I can say is that it's a good job he wasn't using that bat when he played for us otherwise we really would be in relegation trouble........
Essex have described the ECB as “absolutely stupid” for docking the county 12 points because one of their players had used a bat that was too wide in a first-class match at Trent Bridge. Feroze Khushi's bat was tested in the middle of his innings as well as off the field and reported by the umpires.
It only took the ECB five months to make a decision but all I can say is that it's a good job he wasn't using that bat when he played for us otherwise we really would be in relegation trouble........
Essex have described the ECB as “absolutely stupid” for docking the county 12 points because one of their players had used a bat that was too wide in a first-class match at Trent Bridge. Feroze Khushi's bat was tested in the middle of his innings as well as off the field and reported by the umpires.
Which is bizarre anyway. It's not as if players make their own bats or Khushi secretly asked the bat manufacturer for an extra wide bat saying "nobody will notice".
Comments
17-1
27-2
27-4.
This is embarrassing.
54-5
I said it before we should be protesting at the next AGM.
The Garden of England. Years of neglect has turned it into the Garbage of England.
The batting line up isn't very good and never has been when compared to the other sides in Div 1. Most of them, as I've said before, have inherent technical issues that have always been found out when the ball is moving about. Those issues are so ingrained that, at their stage of life, they are very difficult to eradicate by a coach. Their performances this season have very much been in keeping with their historic performances. It is the bowling, in years gone by and that ability to bowl sides out cheaply that has masked our inability to consistently score runs. Of course, losing the likes of Cox and Robinson hasn't helped either.
Career average/season averages (number of innings this year):
Compton 37.36 / 33.81 (23)
DBD 34.20 / 37.19 (23)
Crawley 32.56 / 32.20 (10)
Muyeye 34.07 / 34.69 (13)
Joe Denly 35.81 / 38.50 (15)
Leaning 33.35 / 34.53 (16)
Finch 27.68 / 25.94 (21)
Evison 29.92 / 32.17 (19)
Batting coaches can help with subtle changes (and I'm not sure if ours is employed on a full time basis anyway) but are more useful for youngsters coming through the system. But if we do not encourage batters to put a value on their wicket (as per the second innings in this week's Test) then everything goes out of the window even for the best technicians such as Root and Brook.
"....Just singin' and dancin' in the rain "
Essex have described the ECB as “absolutely stupid” for docking the county 12 points because one of their players had used a bat that was too wide in a first-class match at Trent Bridge. Feroze Khushi's bat was tested in the middle of his innings as well as off the field and reported by the umpires.
Compton 50, no
Finch 42 no
That is the good news
and now trail Hants by 270
138-7
Lancs 228 all out with Durham on 514-4
One of those poor teams will surely join us. My money is on Lancs, as Notts play us next giving them a great chance of a win.